Could Ole Miss have two preseason Heisman favorites in 2026?

There are more than 200 days until Ole Miss opens up its 2026 football season but that does not stop the build up, including putting out the way-too-early lists for Heisman Trophy candidates.

For the Rebels it could be a special Fall for a multitude of reasons ranging from a bid to return to the College Football Playoffs, competing for the Southeastern Conference title and potentially having the sports top player on their roster.

When it comes to the latter ESPN rolled out its early list of Heisman contenders and Ole Miss could potentially have two players vying to lift the trophy in New York City come December.

Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy were among the 18 players that ESPN’s Mark Schlabach listed in his way-to-early look on Monday.

The Ole Miss due make up a third of the six SEC players that Schlabach included. Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, Texas quarterback Arch Manning, Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy and Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed were the other players included.

Manning is once again back atop a lot of the Heisman lists with Chambliss right there with him. Of course a judge’s ruling in a Calhoun County Courthouse later this week will determine if Chambliss stays on these lists.

He is currently not included in BetMGM’s early odds for Heisman, though Lacy is with current odds of +10000.

The Rebels pair finished among the SEC leaders in 2025. Chambliss would be the league’s returning passer coming off the nearly 4,000 yards he threw for last season along with his 22 touchdowns. Lacy and Hardy are the nation’s leading returning rushers heading into 2026. Cam Cook finished with a nation’s best 1,659 yards last season at Jacksonville State, besting Hardy by 10 yards. He transferred to West Virginia for 2026.

Ole Miss has had its share of players become legitimate Heisman contenders. Eli Manning’s 2003 campaign the lone one coming the closest as he made it to NYC as one of the four Heisman finalists. Twenty three years later could produce the Rebels next best chance of securing the program’s first Heisman trophy.